The Paraguayan Pediatric Society (SPP), the Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare (MSPBS), in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and Culture (MEC), the Ministry of Public Defense (MDP) and international institutions such as PAHO and Unicef, They presented the awareness, motivation and training campaign called “Vaccinating is power” at a press conference.
The activity served to draw attention to the importance of complying with the regular early childhood vaccination schedule to prevent highly contagious diseases that pose a serious risk to the health of children.
“The Paraguayan Pediatric Society (SPP) calls on the general population to collaborate in the promotion and thus ensure that all children in Paraguay are vaccinated,” emphasized Dr. Ana Campuzano de Rolón, president of the Paraguayan Pediatric Society ( SPP) during the presentation of this initiative. Getting vaccinated is power arose as a consequence of low vaccination coverage, which led to the iThere is an imminent risk that highly contagious diseases such as measles, poliomyelitis, whooping cough, chickenpox, among others, may reappear.
remembered that the effectiveness of the measles vaccine is greater than 90%. “I went through several measles epidemics and it is really painful to see how young children died from a disease that is completely preventable by vaccine,” he lamented, and immediately added that “this disease can cause complications up to 7 and 11 years after having suffered it, with disorders severe neurological disorders that lead to total cognitive deterioration and seizures of all kinds in the child”.
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In turn, Héctor Castro, director of the Expanded Immunization Program (PAI), reported that Between 2013 and 2022, measles vaccination coverage “was declining dangerously” and that since it is a highly contagious disease, 90 to 95% of the population must be vaccinated, however, in Paraguay “we have been below 80% for several years and this was increasing downward until we found in 2022 with low vaccination numbers. He warned that an unimmunized susceptible population represents a dangerous situation for the spread of an outbreak of such diseases.
For his part, Dr. Guillermo Sequera, director of Health Surveillance, pointed out thate Medical professionals need to be updated on the measles outbreak. “It is a disease practically from the last century, which we youngsters saw only in books. We must have the ability to recognize the disease.”
Edgar Ríos Parquet, Deputy Defender of the Ministry of Public Defense, remarked that parents or guardians of children should know that it is their obligation to comply with the campaigns established by the Ministry of Health, based on the vaccination law, the Children’s Code, the National Constitution and international standards. “In case of non-compliance, we will be mediating and even promoting precautionary measures, but I am sure that we will not get to that,” she said.
Meanwhile, Alcira Sosa, Vice Minister of Education, reported that the vaccination record will be requested and if it is verified that the children do not have the complete vaccination schedule, this situation will be communicated to the health system to start a vaccination campaign in the area.
Rafael Obregón, representative of Unicef in Paraguay, pointed out that low immunization rates “are not only a reality in Paraguay but also in the region and in many countries globally, which represents risks of diseases that have been controlled for many years.” return to the country. Hopefully with this initiative we can bring these coverages to optimal levels”.
“GETTING VACCINATED IS POWER”
Raising awareness and training about the importance of vaccination in the Paraguayan child population, considering that, according to statistics, immunization rates tend to decrease, is the objective of this campaign that will be in force until May.
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“Getting vaccinated is power will include other activities: on February 17, a hybrid scientific event at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at 7:30 p.m.; on March 23, a symposium on “Updating the flu and COVID-19 vaccination plan”, aimed at pediatricians, family doctors, nurses and other targeted professionals, as well as training for vaccinators.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), vaccine-preventable diseases still cause morbidity and mortality due to the lack of vaccination of the population. For example, annual influenza epidemics cause 3 to 5 million severe cases and 290,000 to 650,000 deaths worldwide. cause high work and school absenteeism and loss of productivity. Let’s remember that the more people are vaccinated, the less the virus will be able to spread in the community.
